Me: Do I tell them I’m a writer? If I say I’m a writer, which kind do I tell them? Copywriter? Articles? My books? Do I tell them I’m a mystery shopper? A former teacher turned craft pro? A YouTuber? What? WHHHAAAAATTTT?!?

No, I’ve never actually told anyone that, but I’ve been sorely tempted. It would be easier for me to fake my way through that conversation than to explain how one person has five different professions (with countless subsets). Because that’s just not normal.

Yeah, I know, neither am I, but that’s not what we’re talking about right now.

Or is it?

Sometimes, and especially when I have my planner sitting in front of me, I wonder why and how I manage to juggle all this. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I manage it. (I’m kinda taking a break from YouTube at the moment until I can upgrade my equipment or at least settle on a place to film on a regular basis.) I guess I am not a one job/career kinda person. I’ve got too many interests and way too short an attention span to just do one job every day for the rest of my life. I thrive on trying to write blog posts and articles, complete mystery shops, and still have enough time to get my items made so I can sell them (and donate part of the proceeds to charity). I’m no longer in an actual classroom anymore, but writing, YouTube, and even mystery shopping to an extent help to educate people. I cannot imagine my life without all of these things in it.

So, instead of fighting the steering wheel, I’m going to turn into the skid. The next time someone asks:

Someone: Hey, Kim, what do you do for a living? I’m going to respond with:

I’m an unconventional educator who uses words, videos and covert operations to inform the masses. Oh and I make and sell stuff.

You’ve got a clean slate. There are 364 days ahead of you, and they’re just waiting for you to do something with them. What do you plan to do?

Me? I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. 2011 was a pretty good year, both personally and professionally, so I plan to build on what I accomplished during the last 365 days. I just plan to do things better.

My motto: work smarter, not harder.

I made a list of goals for 2012 that spans two hand-written college-ruled pages, but I won’t torture you with the list. I’m just going to summarize it in three sentences.

1. Be the Expert. I spent most of last year making others look good, and I intend to continue doing that this year — but to a lesser degree. If I have the knowledge and skills to make others look like pros, I really need to apply those same skills to make ME look like a pro. To that end, my relationship with content writing is all but ending. I still have a few private clients through content sites, so I will work with them, but my days of writing from the content pool are limited at best. I never close a door completely or burn a bridge (well, not ALL of them, anyway), but I don’t anticipate working with them nearly as much as I have in the past. I have three solid clients, and a handful of periodic clients. Between those and gigs I pick up here and there from job boards and bid sites, I should do okay, only working half the hours I worked last year.

2. Me Me Me. I’m going to make time for me this year. On average, I worked 96 hours a week last year. Ninety-six. I’m not doing that this year. This year I’m going to actually do things that don’t require an Internet connection. I might even, *gasp* date. Baby steps, though. Baby steps.

3. Indulge my passions. I have been a crafter since I was a kid. Crochet, jewelry making, plastic canvas, looming, needlework are all things I enjoy doing, but over the last few years I’ve stopped, with the exception being the jewelry, and even it has taken a back seat to other things. Well, this year, I’m going to reintroduce myself to those passions. Might even pick up a couple of new ones. We will see.

And that, ladies and gents, is how I plan to spend 2012. What big plans you do have?